Though his appetite for bloodletting is over, Jimmy Ringo (Peck) is forced to stay on the run from young gunners determined to shoot the great man down. After killing an upstart in self-defence, he escapes from the boy's vengeful brothers to the nearby town of Cayenne. There, he hopes to convince his estranged wife (Westcott) to resume their life together, but his arrival causes a sensation. With more young bucks gunning for him, Ringo's fate lies in the hands of the sheriff (Mitchell), his old bandit partner.

The first of the series in CinemaScope has Scott as a bounty hunter bringing the killer to justice--bedeviled by outlaws who want the reward themselves, the killer's brother who wants to rescue him, and Indians attacking at every turn.